Not politics - Pynchon (bombs)

[Robin Landseadel]

As Far as I can tell, the spirit of the Yippies looms large in  
Gravity's Rainbow, and in Vineland.  Webb Traverse---like most  
everything else in Against the Day, is a dual refraction. Webb is one  
of the tales of the wild[e] west that never made it to pulp fiction.  
It is also the anarchy of the internet. By traversing the web we are  
co-conspirators in the revisionist histories that are central to all  
of Pynchon's work. I will continue to insist that the 'loser' status  
of so many of TRP's relatives is a major engine of Pynchon's fictions.


On Oct 8, 2008, at 11:02 AM, kelber at mindspring.com wrote:

> My daughter's a Brandeis kid, following in the footsteps (or not) of  
> Abby Hoffman, Angela Davis, and various other Brandeis alums who  
> straddled both sides of the militant/terrorist divide.  To steer  
> this back to Pynchon, Mark Kohut and I have had a running argument  
> about whether TRP sees Webb Traverse and other anarchist bombers as  
> good guys or bad guys.  I say yes, Mark says no.  To reframe the  
> question, what might TRP's attitude be towards Bill Ayers and the  
> other Weathermen?  I'm assuming a basic, if critical, tolerance  
> (somewhat short of outright affection).  Mark, I'm guessing would  
> disagree.
>
> Laura
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